СЕ Commissioner is concerned with interrogation methods used in Chechnya

The Council of Europe (CE), whose delegation has visited Chechnya these days, relates the violations of inmate detention conditions in the Republic with the deficit of judges. "I believe that this problem is actually connected with a chronic shortage of judges," Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner of the Council of Europe for human rights, told the press conference in Moscow when sharing his impressions about the latest visit to Chechnya. He noted that today the Republic experiences two problems: non-investigated kidnapping cases and inhuman treatment of inmates.

Speaking on the second problem, the Commissioner said: "When I visited "SIZO" (pre-trial detention facility) in Grozny, the detainees complained not of the custody conditions but of the methods used at interrogations. I foresee possible objections since the prisoners will always complain of their investigators, but I have enough experience to see the brink behind which a lie starts," Mr. Hammarberg declared. The Commissioner stated the necessity to run a thorough examination of all investigatory actions - from detention to imprisonment, the RIA "Novosti" informs.